What I've Learned So Far...Part 5

Here's the continuation of the "learned list," or, as maybe it should be called, the "observation list."

201. Spaniards here not only have strollers for their babies...they use actual baby carriages too!
202. Spaniards use a lot of medicine that they dissolve in water, rather than just pills to swallow. 

Spanish Words of the Day: disuelta = dissolved (I think...learned this word from the medicine instructions), bebe = baby :)

203. I swear I have not encountered this many people smoking in this short a time period ever in my life...seems like more than 50% of the population smokes...though in reality that's probably not true.

Spanish Words of the Day: fumar = to smoke, cigarillo = cigarette :)

204.  I keep hearing from everyone else that everywhere they go, the portions are smaller...guess they are just big at people's houses (and big for me because, according to everyone, I eat like a bird).
205. October 12 is a national Holiday in Spain.  For the U.S., Independence is our most important national holiday, but for Spain, this day is because it marks the anniversary of when Columbus discovered North America.  There are no classes on this day and many businesses are closed.  There are also parades and other celebrations and all museums are open to the public for free.

206.  In the last 24 hours, I have heard from one person that Spaniards are lazy when it comes to their jobs - only doing just as much work as necessary so that they do not get fired (instead of doing everything possible to get to the top quickly).  However, my host mom told me that Spaniards are very hard-working and required to do a lot for their jobs.  Interesting paradox...don't know what to believe...
207. In the healthcare industry, Spaniards definitely do not get paid nearly as much as Americans.  Especially pharmacists...they only make a lot of money when they own their own pharmacy (which costs millions and takes a lot of work and requires jumping through a lot of hoops).
208. Spaniards are definitely much more laid back than Americans, more "go with the flow."

Spanish Words of the Day: farmacia = pharmacy, perezoso = lazy, trabajador = hardworker, día festivo - holiday, descubrir = to discover :)

209. Spanish street performers pick the most random songs...I've heard "When the Saints Go Marching In", "La Cucaracha", "Build Me Up Buttercup", a song in Spanish by Nat King Cole, another random Spanish song I happened to know *not super popular either), and my roommates say they've heard Titanic lots too.
210. Most Spanish children seem to have rolling book bags.  However, unlike in America where you have to buy a special backpack with wheels, here they sell the little platforms with wheels that attach to your backpack.  So if you have rotten luck like me and the legs of your rolling book bags always break (because mine never lasted a whole year), then you don't have to buy a whole new one :)
211. M-15 Protests are taking place here (as apparently they are worldwide.  This weekend was the biggest turnout they have had.
212. Spaniards make a big deal out of every type of historical site...even putting plaques where famous people were born or lived in Barrio de Las Letras.

213. There's this program going on where Spaniards with a metro month pass can get into palaces and museums for free on certain days, and to encourage people to go, if you go to all 7 places on the "route", you are entered in a drawing.  Pretty cool!  Unfortunately, I am mostly unavailable during those days.
214. American bakeries are becoming semi popular here, though they are few and far between.
215. In a salsa club, you will be asked to dance even if you do not know how and dancing with someone twice your age is not awkward or frowned upon as long as it stops there (which it pretty much does...except with creepers).
216. Buses are not as easy to use as I had hoped, but they do take your metro month pass (metro buses...not all buses).
217.  Never try to use a new method of transportation when heading home by yourself at night.
218. There are some really nice people with iPhones who will look up directions for you...had this happen twice.  Both times, I think the person was a foreigner rather than a Spanish native (though the Spaniards are helpful as well).
219.  I must appear confident (either that or I look Spanish/like I belong here) because people will ask me for directions or ask me other questions...usually I do not know the answers, or I cannot understand what they are saying when they speak so quickly in Spanish so I say "I don't know" after they repeat it several times and I still don't get it.  Only a minute or two later if I keep replaying what they said in my mind do I finally understand their request.
220. They have some random juices here...like Peach juice (and not like the fake peach-flavored stuff in the U.S., more like Orange juice but comes in a glass bottle like the fake American stuff).  Very good!

221. For New Year's Eve, as the clock strikes 12 times, each time Spaniards eat a grape to symbolize one month.  It's good luck.  Everything stops and becomes silent as this is taking place because everyone is eating grapes.
222. There are manger displays here around Christmas time...cannot wait to see them!
223. Spaniards also do weird things with/to their pets...saw a dog today that looked like it's entire fur was covered in dreadlocks (I don't know if I imagined that or it was for real) and some of its fur on its head was pulled into a ponytail so it could see...not even joking.  Wish I had been able to take a photo before the dog and its master walked away.

Spanish Word of the Day: mochila = backpack, manifestacion = protest, zumo = juice, pregunta = question, perro = dog :)

224.  Spaniards do not celebrate Halloween...sure, there are pumpkins at the fruterias and a few people dress up or carve a pumpkin...and the kids learn about it in English class, but it's not too popular yet.  Slowly it's becoming a legitimate holiday.
225. Even though they do not celebrate Halloween, Spanish children have that day off school.
226. Hardware stores here are called ferreterias...I was looking for wooden letters and my roommate suggested that I go to the "ferret store"...you can probably imagine my reaction.
227. The d sound in Spanish is dental like the t...who knew?
228. Bus drivers need to rest so many minutes per trip or per number or km or they can be fined.
229. You know those walking platforms at the airports?  Well I discovered a while ago (and forgot to post it) that they turn off when no one uses them for so much time and you can turn them back on by stepping on the platform right before you enter the walking thing.
230. Heat is not allowed to be turned on until Nov 1 here and cannot be used after April 1.  This is to conserve energy and minimize pollution.
231. Bus trips are cheap...less than 50 euros total for a 5+ hr bus ride to one city, a 2hr bus ride to another city, and then a 4+ hour bus ride back home (planning a trip now).
232. Spaniards eat pancakes with chocolate sauce (but it's a bit thicker than like Hershey's syrup) instead of maple syrup.
234. Teachers here switch classrooms...even in elementary and high schools.  They do not have set classrooms that they can decorate and stay in all day (at least at some schools).
235. The popular candy here is "caramelos."  Normal...right?  Well...except for the fact that I tried one today...and it was more like licorice and there were tons of different types of candy on the candy kebabs that the kids' aunt brought them...and they just called it all caramelos.
236. Everyone I talk to gives me a different trick for learning to roll my r's completely.  Paula gave me a song, Maria (my intercambio partner) told me to put a pencil in my mouth to keep my tongue up, my friend Stephanie told me to pretend that I am starting a motorcycle, and my friend Katie told me to say "cup of tea" over and over again.  Back in the U.S., someone had told me to say "red leather, yellow leather" over and over.  So many different tricks...
237. Spain's daylight savings time ends this weekend...while in the U.S. it's not til Nov 6ish.  So...for a week there's only a 6hr time difference between me and back home :)
238. My friend Ali who works as an au pair (meaning she lives with a family, gets paid a stipend and then has to take care of the child(ren) for a few hours a day during the week and stays home one night per weekend to watch them so the parents can go out) told me that she's not yet encountered a Spanish child who was well-behaved and who was not a picky eater...and she's been doing this for a few semesters now.  I don't quite believe that...but I don't watch the kids, only tutor them, so I wouldn't know.
239. Abbreviations exist here...for example colegio = cole, universidad = uni, boligrafo = boli, and so on.   The stress is placed on different syllables in the abbreviations when they are pronounced.
240. My host senora knows musicals like West Side Story, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Mamma Mia...apparently Spain takes American musicals and translates them and then performs them here...or maybe the U.S. does that and the musicals originate in Spain or Europe?
241. Periodically websites give me trouble...if I try to purchase something online with a foreign credit card on a Spanish site or if I try to use an American site and have something shipped here, often it will not work or shipping will cost tons more.
242. Certain sites are unavailable here...like Pandora (good thing I have plenty of music on my Itunes).
243. Even concerts here feature American artists...like Coldplay.

244. One part of northern Spain (Pais Vasco) has its own language (Euskara...impossible to understand and nothing like Spanish).  This area actually would love to be its own country and is close to France and if not independent, would rather be citizens of France than of Spain.  The children there don't even learn regular Spanish a lot of the time, and so cannot leave Pais Vasco and find work in Spain because of the language barrier.

Here's an example of something written in Euskera:

245. ETA after 50 years of terrorism in Europe (I think it's a Spanish group against the government), has decided to initiate and keep a cease-fire and stop the violence.  It's big news here.
246.St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier were both born and grew up here in the northern part of Spain...never paid attention to that fact til now.
247. Went to the supermercado the other day...only to find that half the lights were out (don't know why), but it was still open for business...I feel like that wouldn't happen in the states.  Everything closes when power goes out.
248. I was talking to the kids I tutor about Halloween and discovered that although they have like M&Ms here and Snickers, they do not have Reese's Peanut Butter Cups or Candy Corn...I'm hoping to find some in an American store so they can try it.
249. They are so much less wasteful here...not only do they not throw away food as I've mentioned previously, but they do not use nearly as many disposable plates and cups and napkins and such as we do and are disgusted by our wasteful tendencies.  I went to a pancake breakfast at school today and we used disposable wooden forks and knives.
250. I've recently encountered a lot of "sex stores" or "erotic toy stores" and I know I'm in the capital city of Spain, but I feel like I'm seeing a dark side of Madrid that I would almost rather not know about.

Peace and Blessings,
Melanie

Spanish Words of the Day: truco = trick, ciudadano = citizen, independencia = independence, violencia = violence :)